Star Trek Olympia: The Fallen
by DocWinters
Summary: The USS Olympia, an Akira class cruiser has been redeployed from the Romulan Neutral Zone to investigate a series of disappearances along the frontier. It is up to Captain Talloc Hagen to try and avert a new threat from raising its head from deep beyond Deep Space Five
1. Chapter 1

Space was a harsh mistress, something that Captain Talloc Hagen knew fairly well. In the past he had made comparisons between space travel and the seafaring vessels of his native Betazed.

However, the starship whose bridge he stood upon, the USS _Olympia_, his command, was far from a simple seafaring vessel. The power wielded by the Akira Class would turn the most sophisticated wave-rider on the Opal Sea to smouldering ashes without a second thought.

Talloc stood near his command chair, one hand resting against its armrest, the other tucked behind his back as his senior staff went about their duties in near silence; the only conversation taking place was task related. Normally Talloc would have appreciated the attention his crew were giving to their duties, but he didn't need to utilise his telepathic abilities to tell that the crew were unsettled. Their captain understood why, of late, the _Olympia_ had been tasked with patrolling along the Romulan Neutral Zone, now however, they were proceeding at warp towards Deep Space Five, the furthest Federation Starbase in the Beta Quadrant.

"Time until we reach Deep Space Five?" the Betazoid asked absently.  
"We will reach the periphery of Federation space within the hour, it will be another ten hours until we reach Starbase Deep Space Five," reported the tall Bajoran officer manning the forward operations station, seated alongside the _Olympia's_ green-skinned helm officer.

"But, Captain, if you are in any particular rush, we could increase speed to get their sooner," the helm officer remarked before turning her chair to face the captain, her normal flirtatious smile still clearly present on her manicured face. While Talloc knew that it wasn't the intention of the Orion woman to make light of their summons to the very limit of Federation space, but he could not fault her either.

Talloc shook his head, "The current velocity will be fine Lieutenant Navarra," he replied before taking his seat. The captain was restless, and he didn't want to display it in front of the crew.

The woman seated next to him turned to face the tactical console behind her to her left, "Anything on sensors, Mr Xonak?" she asked trying to refocus the crew's attention.  
"Commander, long range sensors do not display anything worth reporting, however I have been running continuous scans since entering this sector." The tanned Vulcan officer replied before looking down at his console to confirm his statement.

Talloc turned to face the woman, "Looking for something in particular XO?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

Turning back to face him, Commander Hope Jackson grinned, "The reason for our summons, mostly,"

The captain laughed slightly, "If only things were so easy." He stood once more and fixed his uniform jacket, "You have the conn Commander Jackson; I will be in my ready room."

"Aye," Hope replied before vacating her chair to take Talloc's as he crossed the bridge to a single door near the front of the room.

Once the doors to his ready room closed, Talloc closed his eyes and took a breath. While he was thankful that the _Olympia_ had been redeployed from the Romulan Border, an uneventful tour considering that the Romulans had closed their border following the Reman, Shinzon's attempted coup the year before. While he knew the crew appreciated the diversion, the fact that he had nothing to tell them about their summons caused a barely detectable tremor of uncertainty that ran through the ship.

Crossing his ready room, Talloc took a seat and activated his terminal. He had to focus his thoughts before he re-emerged from his ready-room, as a captain's job was to inspire confidence, even if he agreed with the crews sentiments he had to at least appear confident.

Activating the most recent report he received, he mused that he wished he had a yeoman, a position that while no longer required was still a common sight within the fleet. Before he could become too engrossed in the report the door-chime to his ready room sounded. Closing the report Talloc folded his hands over themselves before acknowledging the door. "Enter."

The doors parted to reveal a tall woman in an azure science uniform, her skivvy contrasted her pale blue skin almost as much as her thick brown hair.

Before she could say anything Talloc shook his head, "Tira, if there was anything more I could tell you about our summons I would, but you know as much as I do," he remarked as the doors closed behind the tall Andorian hybrid.

Lieutenant Commander Tira'Ridala nev-Theyla smiled before crossing his ready room to sit on the two-seat sofa in the corner. "Doesn't mean that you like the idea of our summons," she replied as he rose and leant against the outer edge of his desk.

"You are right, I am not liking the idea of our being sent to DS5, and having nothing in regards to an explanation, even a classified reason would be better than what we have been given," Talloc replied before standing and moving to the replicator alcove, emerging moments later with two steaming beverages.

"You suspect it might be related to the Borg don't you?" Tira asked before the captain handed her one glass, its spiced aroma caused her to smile as he sat on the sofa beside her.

Taking a sip from his own beverage Talloc pondered on the question, the area around Deep Space Five had been the chosen route for the cybernetic race in their two previous incursions into Federation Space. "While I cannot discount that possibility, the reality of the situation suggests that it is not the case. If it was the Borg, we'd be picking up dozens of starships on the same trajectory as us, which as you know, is not the case."

Tira nodded before taking another sip, "I don't suppose you have any other theories about why we have been sent?"

Resting his glass in his hands, the captain nodded in agreement, "I do, but nothing I would care to comment on, especially with so little data at hand." Pausing, Talloc turned to face his long-time colleague, "What is your impression of the crew?"

Tira raised an eyebrow, it was at this close proximity that Talloc could make out the very human looking pupils that like her hair, betrayed her half human parentage. "Shouldn't you be asking Lieutenant Roher that one?"  
The captain shook his head, "Tirania has not been with the crew for long, she is still fitting into the somewhat large shoes her predecessor left, and besides, I thought Andorians could pick up changes in mood."  
Tira laughed, "Full-blooded Andorians maybe, but remember, I am far from full-blooded," she paused to take another sip from her drink, "but yes, the crew is unsettled about our sudden redeployment, but they are also confident about being able to accomplish whatever is set before us. If anything, their faith in your ability to see them through this has not changed."

Talloc smiled, "I just hope that that faith is not mislaid."


	2. Chapter 2

2.

A faint beeping forced Talloc to open his eyes, the captain had not even been aware that he had fallen asleep, much less that he was still in his ready room. Talloc shook his head at the situation, he knew that if Doctor Sarratt found out, she would use it to force him to take the vacation he kept postponing. Rubbing his face, the captain realised that it was the intercom that was chiming. "Hagen," he called before approaching the fresher unit attached to his ready room and splashed cool water on his face.

"Captain, we are approaching Deep Space Five," reported the senior bridge officer as Talloc patted his face dry with a nearby towel.

"Understood, I'm on my way, Hagen out." Tossing the handtowel in the replicator, Talloc paused long enough to straighten his uniform before crossing his ready room and stepping out onto the bridge. Taking his command chair from the duty officer he took a breath. "On screen."

The holographic viewscreen shimmered to life, displaying the slowly rotating structure that was Deep Space Five, one of Starfleet's older Regula type Starbases.  
"Welcome to the frontier," Talloc murmured before adjusting his uniform tunic, "Open hailing frequencies with the station."

The image on the viewscreen changed from an exterior of the station to the serious expression of the stations commanding officer. "Captain Hagen, the _Olympia_ made excellent time from the DMZ to the frontier."  
Talloc nodded slightly, "Thank you Admiral Glover, while our orders were not detailed, the interpretation we made inferred haste."  
Admiral Samson Glover scowled at the comment, "Make arrangements to beam aboard the station to receive your orders. Deep Space Five out."  
As the screen reverted back to the vista that was the slowly rotating starbase, Talloc turned to the duty officer, "Summon the senior staff to the bridge, you have the conn until Lieutenant Kala arrives." He tapped his combadge once as he crossed the bridge for the turbolift. "Commander Jackson meet me in transporter room three, Hagen out."

The pair materialised on Deep Space Five's transporter pad moments later, standing next to the controls was a woman wearing a command skivvy. "Captain Hagen, I am Commander Jasmine Mendes, Sector Operations Officer, Admiral Glover has instructed me to escort you and your executive officer to the ward room immediately."  
Talloc nodded, "Lead the way Commander."  
Jasmine smiled before taking a step towards the door, "If you will follow me."

"Commander Mendes, do you have any idea why we were sent here? The orders we received were somewhat light." Talloc asked as the three officers made their way through the station.  
The Commander shook her head as they entered a turbolift, "While I am aware of the particulars of your orders, I am not at liberty of disclosing them; only Admiral Glover can disclose that information."  
Talloc nodded, while he could have easily probed the mind of the officer standing to his right to find out what he wanted to know, he didn't really need to, he could pick up the concern wafting off her like a cloud.  
"Commander, has there been any other Federation ships come through these parts lately?" Hope asked as the trio made their quick ascent in the turbolift.  
"We had the USS _Magellan_ come through about a week ago on a survey mission, nothing since then." Jasmine replied curtly as the turbolift slowed to a stop, by her tone it was obvious that she wanted to end the conversation.

Talloc shared a covert glance with his executive officer, it was obvious that he was going to get nothing more from Commander Mendez, and that only managed to confirm his suspicions that something bad was about to happen. Hope noticed her captain's expression and nodded before taking a step closer to him.

The trio made the remaining distance in silence before Commander Mendez paused before a pair of double doors. Turning to face the command crew of the _Olympia_, Jasmine smiled as pleasantly as she could muster. "The wardroom is behind these doors, now if you excuse me I must return to my duties."

Talloc nodded as the commander squeezed her way between the two and proceeded back the direction they came. Raising an eyebrow, Talloc pressed the door controls.  
"Is it just me, or was she in way too much of a hurry to get out of here," Hope commented as the doors slowly parted.  
"It's something I've noticed since we have come aboard. There is an undercurrent of anxiety running the length of this station, and I suspect that that ship out there is the reason," Talloc replied before the two entered the wardroom.  
"Captain Hagen, Commander Jackson, welcome to Deep Space Five," remarked the mountain that was Admiral Samson Glover who stood with his back to a large master system display screen.  
The two officers came to attention but the formality was quickly waved aside.  
"Thank you for the invite sir. I was hoping you could reveal the reason behind our summons? Our orders were not particularly detailed." Talloc replied before taking a seat at the table at the Admiral's gesture.

The admiral approached the situational display screen and activated it, "As you know, Starfleet's mandate following the war with the Dominion was to return to an explorative focus and with the exception of the cooling recent tensions with the Romulans, we have been able to do just that."  
Talloc nodded, while Starfleet had indeed attempted to shift its focus back to one of exploration, he had noticed that the _Olympia_'s post-war assignments had been mostly of a military focus.  
"Unfortunately we have not been without incident. The Exploration Branch had been attempting to survey the unclaimed expanses beyond our core-ward border, essentially since the end of the war. The belief was that with the Romulans returning inward once more that we would be able to do so without being shadowed by a dozen warbirds."  
"I take it, Admiral, that that hasn't been the case?" Talloc asked leaning forward slightly.  
Glover nodded, "To be frank captain, we don't know what the case is, Exploration Branch has lost five ships since the end of the war, three of them since the Romulans closed their border. The closeness of the past three disappearances may relate to a previously unseen power operating in the unknown regions."  
Talloc nodded, "Hence why we've been sent?"  
"If I had my way I would send the _Enterprise_, but the _Olympia_ is more than capable of leading an investigation into the disappearances. I want to know what is beyond that border. This is the preferred route for the Borg to attack Earth, I'd prefer to be able to tell Starfleet Command that it's not the Borg that are snatching our ships but a potential ally against them."

Talloc nodded, "Understood, Admiral, is there a place where we should start our investigation?"  
Glover raised an eyebrow, "The _Olympia_ will be sent all pertinent information transmitted from the five ships, but as their entry vectors into the unknown regions differed there isn't a single point they all crossed. But the _Magellan_'s last known location would be a good place to start."  
Standing, Talloc turned to Hope, "Understood sir, we will begin our investigation immediately."  
Glover raised a hand slightly, "But of course, dismissed."

Once the two officers left the briefing room, Talloc looked his executive officer who shrugged, "Let's return to the _Olympia_, something isn't right here."  
Hope nodded before they exited the room, "I didn't even need to be a telepath to tell that one sir."

Returning to the bridge of the _Olympia_, Talloc stood in front of his command chair, as the front viewscreen showed the same image as before, the bronze starship turned on its central axis and proceeded out of the system.  
"Helm have we received coordinates?" He asked absently.  
Navra turned her chair to face Talloc, "Aye captain, contained in the mission packet was a set of coordinates, they appear to point to a planetary system previously unexplored by the Federation. However, to get there we will be skirting a little close to the core-ward border of the Romulan Empire than I would like. I've already plotted a course to keep us well clear of the Romulans, but who knows what we may find out there."  
"Your foresight is noted Lieutenant," Talloc commended before turning to his Tactical Chief, "Xonak, do we have a brief from Starfleet Intelligence about the area we are travelling into?"  
Xonak shook his head, "Negative, Captain. The area of space outlined in the mission brief has not been thoroughly explored by any branch of Starfleet, civilian or otherwise. Most Intelligence assets in this region are dedicated either to the Borg or to the Romulan Empire."  
Talloc frowned. "Then best tactical analysis Lieutenant, go through all pertinent mission logs to assist you. Helm engage, Warp seven." He turned to his Operations Chief, "Mister Kala, consult the mission packet, I want a briefing at 1730, I want to know what we are heading into."  
His senior staff acknowledged their orders as the _Olympia_ headed into the unknown.


End file.
